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Most up-to-date policies:
PLEASE NOTE THE REMAINDER OF OUR POLICIES ARE BEING UPDATED.
The Conservation Council together with local experts has identified three key recommendations in each of our six campaign areas.
Download the entire policy suite (2.2 MB).pdf
Planning
Recommendations:
• Appoint an independent expert to conduct the first comprehensive five-year review of progress of the Spatial Plan, recognising that climate change and other (particularly transport) pressures now necessitate detailed measures of the Plan's effectiveness in terms of our sustainable future, and, within the term of Government, effect identified changes to the Plan and commence implementation.
• Develop a comprehensive carbon audit tool and commence implementation within 12 months of the election to cover all aspects of urban development from site selection and orientation, integrated public transport and extensions, to existing buildings.
• Produce an updated and comprehensive biodiversity map of urban Canberra and the surrounding rural lands to inform planning, leasing and land management.
A Future for Canberra
As part of the Canberra Plan, the Spatial Plan was approved by the ACT Government in March 2004. The Spatial Plan was due for a progress review and report by March 2006. A Ministerial Statement about progress was made in the Legislative Assembly in August 2006. The first 5-year review of the Spatial Plan is due in March 2009.
For the first five-year review a comprehensive, independent process is recommended, including a stronger focus on elements of sustainable urban development.
Since the underlying values for the Spatial Plan were first scoped, there has been a consistent and sustained message about imminent and growing impacts of climate change. Rapidly increasing pressures on the future supply of the world’s oil have already translated locally into increased fuel prices at the pump and these are expected to increase further as demand grows and supply decreases. In just a few years, these two factors have become increasing influences on the future functioning of Canberra, with more direct consequences for the householder than were previously experienced.
The strategic direction of the Spatial Plan identifies the Canberra of the future as a more compact city, a livable city enjoyed by all, a city of choice with a dynamic heart, and a place where the natural and cultural heritage are respected and protected. That direction now needs a much greater emphasis on what it means to enact those values given the changes that increasingly threaten them.
The independent 2003 ACT State of the Environment Report found that we are living beyond our environmental means. The ACT Government’s Measuring our Progress reported a similar situation. The 2007 State of the Environment Report now due for release is likely to say the same thing, as well as reporting on the ACT’s oversized ecological footprint. As well as importing nearly all our goods, we are one of Australia’s most car-dependent and energy-dependent cities. Spatial and transport planning as well as building regulations need to be adapted to reduce our environmental impact to retain our livability.
A review of the Spatial Plan’s progress should therefore include a review of the efficacy of the Plan’s goals, implementation framework and initiatives. Indicators that were developed at the time of the Plan’s development need to be renewed to measure whether the Spatial Plan is taking us towards greater sustainability or away from it.
This review must be comprehensive enough to capture how well the current Spatial Plan ensures the lifecycles of urban and natural landscape in their entirety. The review should be used inform us as to provisions required for the social and environmental health of the ACT to be ensured in perpetuity.
An independent expert with national and international experience should be contracted to undertake the review in order to broaden the approach that has previously been taken within the ACT, and deliver an approach to planning that looks to the highest environmental and social outcomes into the future.
To measure progress and efficacy of the Spatial Plan, the Conservation Council recommends that the next ACT Government:
• Commissions an independent review of the implementation and strategic direction of the Spatial Plan that addresses the effects of climate change, sustainable transport needs and our per capita ecological footprint, with Terms of Reference to be developed within six months of the election.
• Provides $120,000 funding to appoint an independent expert, external to ACT Government processes, and provide sufficient support within Government to undertake the review of the Spatial Plan as recommended.
• Provides opportunities for public consultation on the review and comment before finalisation of the review.
• Incorporates identified changes to the Spatial Plan and commence implementation within the term of government.
Carbon Auditing Tool
A truly sustainable living area recognises the ecological value of the land it sits within. Public transport is accessible, reliable and affordable. Walking and active transport are encouraged, by locating goods and services within suburban areas. Dwellings are designed to make use of the sun for light and warmth. Blocks are faced appropriately and ensure enough solar access for passive heating, growing food, powering photovoltaic systems, and greater amenity. Extensions must meet the same or greater energy efficiency standards as the houses to which they are attach. Electricity is sourced from local, renewable sources as a priority to cut back on transmission losses and greenhouse gas emissions. Roads are designed for effective speed and safety, and complement an integrated multi-modal rapid transit system.
Clear guidelines that take into account the carbon footprint of any development or renovation will make our homes and workplaces more energy efficient, ease the reliance on car-based travel, and cut greenhouse gas emissions. Our homes and suburbs will be more livable, encourage better community relationships, better health, and better greenhouse outcomes.
A carbon audit tool would enable systematic measurement of our carbon footprints. It could assess every stage of developments, from the siting of entire new suburbs to the efficiency requirements of a single house extension. A new energy efficiency rating tool for buildings is an integral part of the wider carbon audit tool.
To assist in implementing a more sustainable living environment, the Conservation Council recommends that the next ACT Government:
• Develops a Comprehensive Carbon Audit Tool, based on best principles of sustainable design and the constraints of a carbon-limited future.
• Provides $45,000 for a full time senior officer for six months to develop a carbon audit tool.
• Implements the Carbon Audit Tool and conduct a benchmark audit of selected new and old suburbs within 12 months of government.
Biodiversity Map
Canberra is valued by the ACT community and nationally as the ‘bush capital’. Urban Canberra and surrounding rural lands of the ACT retain a wide diversity of plants and animals that provide ecological services far beyond those of the threatened communities and species that must now be taken into consideration in planning decisions. However, the wealth of our biodiversity assets is not comprehensively identified nor is it recorded in any one plan, such as the Territory Plan.
Whilst this level of vagueness continues, it is not possible for planners to consider the overall impacts of specific developments on Canberra’s biodiversity.
The production of a comprehensive map identifying the biodiversity assets of urban Canberra and the rural lands of the ACT will bring together a range of information to inform planning, leasing and land management decisions. The map will need to include: vegetation types, threatened ecological communities, threatened species habitats, corridors and other aspects of urban biodiversity.
The map will need to be afforded status in a key ACT planning document such as the Territory Plan or a revised Spatial Plan.
This measure, coupled with the establishment of a dedicated senior environmental planning position within the ACT Planning and Land Authority, will help ensure that consideration of urban biodiversity issues is greatly improved in all planning decisions.
To achieve greater consideration of urban biodiversity assets in planning decisions, the Conservation Council recommends that the next ACT Government:
• Produces a biodiversity map of urban Canberra and the surrounding rural lands to inform planning, leasing and land management decisions, within 24 months of government.
• Establishes a senior position in the ACT Planning and Land Authority to take leadership of environmental planning, funded in the 2009-2010 budget.
Transport Policies
Recommendations:
• Actively support the development of a proposal to Infrastructure Australia to fund a very fast rail link between Melbourne and Sydney via Canberra.
• Support the development of a comprehensive light rail system across Canberra with Phase One to be operational by the centenary of Canberra in 2013, and a complete network to be completed by 2020.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive walking strategy for Civic, assessed against best practice design for pedestrians, that identifies areas for immediate improvement and is supported by an investment in infrastructure.
A Very Fast Rail Link
The rapid increase in fuel prices has already started impacting on the aviation industry, and will continue to do so under dwindling world oil stocks. A price on carbon will further increase ticket prices, as the cost of flying on the environment is taken into account. Internationally, many countries are preparing themselves for a low carbon future and moving off planes and onto trains. Very fast rail is now servicing some of what were previously the busiest air-routes in the world.
There have been important developments in the rail industry on which Australia is yet to capitalise. When including check-in times and the other additional necessities of catching a flight, very fast trains can now transport people in a compatible time as they could fly. It is likely that a very fast train will service Sydney to Melbourne, and it is important that Canberra is not left out of this important opportunity. A very fast train could utilise the existing airport location, turning it into a transport hub, in turn serviced by light rail to key areas of the city. The ease of transport should attract more visitors to Canberra and support the politicians and business people who travel to the city.
Infrastructure Australia, under the Commonwealth Government’s Building Australia Fund, has committed $20 billion to nation building, iconic developments that reduce greenhouse gasses, and is looking to fund public transport initiatives. This is a unique opportunity to put Canberra on the map, shift our dependence on liquid fuels, and make travel to the city from interstate an attractive option to business and tourists.
To progress the ACT’s involvement in a very fast train development from Sydney to Melbourne, the Conservation Council recommends that the next ACT Government:
• Submits a funding proposal for a very fast train to Infrastructure Australia, in concert with NSW and Victoria.
• Assigns an officer from the Chief Minister’s Department to spearhead development of the proposal.
A Light Rail System for Canberra
Canberra has one of the highest rates of car use in the country. 68% of the population is dependent on the car to get to work or school, compared to 57% in Sydney. Only 10% are using the ACTION bus network. Our public transport system needs invigorating.
As mentioned above, $20 billion will be made available out of the Building Australia Fund under Infrastructure Australia to support public transport projects that are visionary, reduce greenhouse gasses and utilise public-private partnerships.
Light rail builds community and business opportunities along its tracks and hubs, unlike bus networks, and increases the value of the land surrounding it. It does not rely on liquid fuels that are rapidly becoming scarce. High value land currently used for parking would become available for commercial and residential development.
Initiatives that would assist light rail in its first stages must also be incorporated into a Light rail plan for Canberra. Such initiatives would include matching parking costs in Canberra to that of other Eastern Australian capital cities, introducing paid parking to the Parliamentary Triangle, multi-modal ticketing, and best-practice integrated public transport planning.
The Conservation Council encourages an incoming ACT Government to support development of a comprehensive light rail system across Canberra with Phase One to be operational by the centenary of Canberra in 2013, and a complete network to be completed by 2020.
To achieve this goal of a light rail system for the ACT, the Conservation Council recommends that the next ACT Government:
• Submits a detailed proposal for a light rail system for Canberra to Infrastructure Australia.
• Assigns an officer from the Chief Minister’s Department to spearhead the development of the proposal.
• Provides appropriate funding to complete design of the system.
• Provides incentives to support uptake of light rail and transition to sustainable transport.
Civic - a Walking Centre
Canberra has long been known as the city of the road, and has no comprehensive plan developed for walking. As the Canberra population ages, safe pedestrian movement will become increasingly important.
A city that encourages walking has healthier residents as they are engaged in active transport rather than being reliant on cars. Walking cities have life and vibrancy as people are able to move around more freely.
A comprehensive walking plan will include measures to make walking a more attractive option for people. Traffic calming and diversion measures, making intersections easier to cross, and ensuring footpaths are wide enough for people to walk easily are all factors that will encourage more walking. A network of paths with amenities, such as benches, will grow community as they encourage more people to stroll the streets. Parking lots should not impede pedestrian movement, and traffic lights can prioritise the pedestrian over the car-driver, particularly in inner-city areas.
Reducing traffic speed, movement and parking spaces in inner city areas is an important tool in encouraging walking. In Copenhagen, car parks were turned into public squares connected by well-utilised pedestrian thoroughfares.
A pedestrian movement study has been completed for Civic and will help inform future planning in the Civic area. This makes Civic the logical first step in a Walking Plan to be expanded to all ACT town centres.
To achieve a walking city, the Conservation Council recommends that the next ACT Government:
• Develops a comprehensive Walking Plan for Civic.
• Assesses the plan against best practice design for pedestrians.
• Identifies areas for immediate improvement and improve them.
• Invests in the necessary infrastructure to support the plan.
• Expands the plan to all ACT town centres.
Climate Change Policies
Recommendations:
• Set an Energy Efficiency Target of 40% reduction in the ACT’s total end-use consumption by 2020.
• Introduce a new energy efficiency rating for all dwellings.
• 60% of Canberrans walk, ride or use public transport to travel to work by 2020.
40% by 2020 an Energy Efficiency Target
The need to act urgently to avoid runaway climate change has been recognised by international scientists, economists, politicians and communities. Canberrans, with one of the biggest carbon footprints in the world, are looking for government action to address rising emissions. 72% of the ACT’s carbon emissions are from stationary energy use such as heating and cooling. Wasted energy presents a great opportunity to reduce emissions, and appropriate regulations will see a significant decline in greenhouse gases being emitted in the ACT.
In April 2008 the Conservation Council convened a roundtable of experts to identify solutions to Canberra’s greenhouse gas emissions. The roundtable produced a paper entitled Achieving Better Energy Efficiency in the ACT, which contains recommendations on how the ACT can achieve reductions in energy use.
The roundtable identified that the ACT could be a leader in Australian emissions reductions by regulating for better energy efficiency, through a program that includes, but is not limited to:
• Mandatory Australian Building Greenhouse Rating (ABGR) standard for all commercial buildings, including ones developed or tenanted by the government
• Mandatory disclosure of energy consumption by the retail sector
• Assistance for low income home owners
• An energy efficiency standard for dwellings to be considered ‘fit for habitation’
• Phasing out electric hot water systems, and
• Education programs for tenants and lessors of residential and commercial properties.
To achieve these energy efficiency outcomes the Conservation Council recommends that the next ACT Government:
• Introduces a legislated energy efficiency target of a reduction in energy use in the ACT’s consumption as a whole, of 40% by 2020.
• Implements the recommendations of Achieving Better Energy Efficiency in the ACT , a document prepared out of a roundtable of climate experts looking at reducing emissions from stationary energy use in the ACT.
A Better, Audited Energy Efficiency Rating
New dwellings in the ACT are consistently falling below the five star energy efficiency standard they are required to meet. There are two main causes of houses not meeting this target.
The current energy efficiency rating tool includes discretionary items, such as curtains, which are often not installed by the new home owner. Major appliances, such as hot water heaters, are not included in the requirements for meeting energy efficiency, so houses perform more poorly than they would if they had more efficient appliances. Houses are not required to be north facing, or incorporate other essential elements of passive solar design.
The lack of physical audits has consistently seen the building of below-standard dwellings that do not meet the current energy efficiency requirements. The current legislation does not provide for the management of builders and developers that are not meeting their obligations.
A new energy efficiency rating tool is required that does not include discretionary items, such as curtains, and which is broad enough to include major appliances, such as water heaters. Working schemes, such as the BASIX system currently used in NSW, can be built on as a working model of a stronger energy efficiency rating tool.
A new, better energy efficiency rating system should apply to all buildings in the ACT, including commercial and industrial buildings as well as residential ones.
In order to achieve a marked increase in energy efficiency in the ACT’s buildings, the Conservation Council recommends that he new ACT Government:
• Introduces physical compliance audits of all new dwellings, within two months of forming government.
• Develops and implements a new energy efficiency rating scheme for all commercial and residential buildings, based on best practice models, that does not include discretionary items and is broad enough to include appliances such as water heaters.
• Provides $300,000 for two senior officer positions to oversee implementation of the new energy efficiency rating tool commence and to commence auditing for compliance within 12 months of government.
Encourage More Active Transport
Active transport refers to walking, cycling and the use of public transport as forms of transport that involve human physical activity with substantial benefits for health and well-being. Active transport equates to benefits to the health of the community, the local environment and the planet as a whole.
Best estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from transport shows that this area is responsible for close to a quarter of Canberra’s emissions. Canberra is still heavily reliant on the car and thus needs a re-invigoration of its public transport system to encourage people to leave their car at home for most of their work trips.
The way we design our suburbs and build our roads has emphasised the use of cars, increasing congestion and pollution, and isolating the old and very young. Only about 7% of Canberrans use the existing public transport system. Light rail could see many more using public transport to commute to and from work.
A “walking city” will assist those who live in the increasingly dense town centres to walk to work. Investment in a connected system as a whole, with bike and ride facilities, a redesign of roads in any new suburbs, a network of cycling and walking tracks, incentives for people to leave their car at home and traffic calming measures will provide us with a safer, more accessible city, and cut back our substantial greenhouse gas emissions.
To encourage more active modes of transport the Conservation Council recommends that a new ACT Government:
• Sets a target of 60% of Canberrans walking, riding or using public transport to travel to work by 2020.
• Provides $150,000 for a senior officer position to research the most effective planning strategies and conduct consultations to encourage active transport in Canberra and report.
• Implements the findings of this report within 12 months of government.
Biodiversity Conservation Policies
Recommendations:
• Protect in perpetuity all of the Central Molonglo endangered Yellow Box-Red Gum Grassy Woodlands.
• Protect in perpetuity all of the remaining native grasslands in the Majura and Jerrabomberra Valleys.
• Provide $1.01 million pa in additional funding to Parks, Conservation and Lands to ensure that the ACT conservation estate is managed to the highest level of conservation standards with sufficient on-ground management supported by management focused research and policy officers.
Central Molonglo
The Central Molonglo valley has been identified by the ACT Government as a potential future urban development area. This is in addition to the major urban development planned for the near future in East Molonglo.
If development of the Central Molonglo valley proceeds it will result in the clearing of over 550 hectares of Yellow Box-Red Gum Grassy Woodland, a nationally endangered ecological community. It will also result in the destruction of habitat for threatened woodland birds and the home ranges of many birds of prey.
About 95% of Yellow Box-Red Gum Grassy Woodland has already been destroyed nationally. There are no Yellow Box-Red Gum patches greater than 200 hectares in Victoria or southern NSW. Thus, the Molonglo patches of this endangered woodland have very high regional and national conservation significance. This ecological community has such high environmental value that it should be retained as part of the conservation and rural lands estate, and never be developed for urban purposes.
The Central Molonglo endangered woodlands must be protected in perpetuity. To achieve this the Conservation Council recommends that the next ACT Government:
• Rezones all of the Central Molonglo Yellow Box-Red Gum Woodland areas as either part of a greater Kama Reserve or as conservation leases - by February 2009.
• Ensures buffer zones and bushfire protection zones are located outside the core Kama Reserve.
• Provides resources to manage the new Kama Reserve (1 ranger position plus $50,000 operational funds per annum).
Majura and Jerrabomberra Valleys
The Majura and Jerrabomberra Valleys have been identified as the next development area for employment and industry in the ACT. Major transport infrastructure is also being planned for these valleys.
More than 99% of lowland native grassland in the region has already been destroyed. The only unprotected lowland native grasslands in the ACT are in and around the airport and east of the Monaro Highway. They contain habitat for the endangered Grassland Earless Dragon.
Unless these grasslands are protected they will be developed, fragmented or allowed to deteriorate. Loss of these grasslands will also mean extinction of grassland animals and plants.
The native grasslands in the Majura and Jerrabomberra Valleys, including habitat for threatened grassland species such as the Grassland Earless Dragon, must be protected in perpetuity.
To protect the Majura and Jerrabomberra Valleys, the Conservation Council recommends that the next ACT Government:
• Rezones as nature reserves all remaining native grassland areas in the Majura and Jerrabomberra Valleys by February 2009.
• Ensures buffer zones and bushfire protection zones are located outside grassland nature reserves.
• Provides resources to manage the new grassland reserves (1 ranger position plus $50,000 operational funds per annum).
Resourcing Knowledge-Based Management
The ACT has an enviable record in developing its nature conservation estate. Significant areas of the ACT have already been reserved to protect our important biodiversity.
While there are some remaining areas requiring protection, there is also an urgent need to adequately resource the Parks, Conservation and Lands (PCL) area of the Department of Territories and Municipal Services such that it can properly manage the existing conservation estate.
Conservation areas need active management to protect their values and maintain and improve their ecological condition. There is a growing number of native species that are listed as threatened with extinction in the ACT. Some areas of endangered ecological communities are being cleared. Feral animals and weeds continue to impact on our parks and reserves.
Greater focus on and adequate resourcing of evidenced-based management will help to reverse the trend of declining biological diversity in our conservation estate. Government provision of resources to employ specialist rangers, research staff and policy officers dedicated to science-based management will improve the ACT’s capacity to manage issues such as weeds, kangaroos, feral pests, stock grazing and prescribed burning, and to inform the restoration of conservation areas.
As the custodians of most of the remaining patches of the nationally critically endangered grassy woodland ecosystems, the ACT Government has a special responsibility to ensure appropriate management and restoration of our unique grassy woodlands reserves. These ecosystems, particularly the grasslands reserves, are experiencing extreme pressure from ongoing drought and over-grazing. The employment of grassy woodland specialist rangers will make a vital contribution to fulfilling this responsibility.
To support the building of an evidence-based management approach to the conservation management of the ACT’s reserve system, the Conservation Council recommends that the next ACT Government:
• Establishes two new grassy woodland specialist ranger positions.
• Establishes two additional senior ranger positions.
• Establishes four additional ranger positions.
• Establishes three scientific research officer positions.
Waste and Resource Recovery Policies
Recommendations:
• Fund a program focussed on reducing waste to landfill from the commercial and business sector, to achieve 50% resource recovery by 2012.
• Provide all Canberra households with a collection bin for compostable food waste.
• Deliver a targeted and canny community education program to reinvigorate a No Waste concept in the community when they are at home, at work, in public spaces and in school.
Commercial and Business Sector
The ACT’s No Waste by 2010 Strategy (1996) identified commercial and industrial waste (as well as waste from the construction industry) as major sources of waste that was rapidly filling the two landfill sites at West Belconnen (since closed) and Mugga Lane.
There are now some good systems in place for reusing much of the building and demolition waste that used to go straight into the tip.
However, in spite of the No Waste Strategy, waste from the business sector has increased almost every year. Of some 200,000 tonnes of waste that go to the tip each year in the ACT, more than 80,000 tonnes are from the business sector.
There has never been a really concerted and successful effort to reduce or recycle commercial and industrial waste. This is an essential priority for waste reduction.
Food and compostable waste are estimated to make up around three-eighths (30,000 tonnes) of commercial and industrial waste in the ACT each year. If such waste could be dealt with separately, business opportunities exist in the ACT and region for its collection and treatment. The program to reduce the amount of commercial and industrial waste that goes to the tip should capitalise on these opportunities.
With charges for sending material to landfill much higher than for recycling, it is surprising that ACT businesses have been so reluctant to do more recycling. A very focussed program is needed to steer ACT businesses in the direction that supports reduced waste to landfill and commercially profitable decisions.
To improve resource recovery from the commercial and business sectors, the Conservation Council recommends that the next ACT Government:
• Dedicates a program to facilitate recycling by ACT businesses.
• Establish a full-time position for two years minimum plus costs and publicity, total $300,000, to support this initiative.
• Identifies and works with target industries, in particular small businesses.
• Uses winners of No Waste Awards for promotional purposes.
Food Waste Collection
There are at least two good reasons to continue to reduce the amount of household waste going to landfill. One is that we could eventually end up with serious problems finding places to dump our waste. Another is to do with the resources that we are using up with lifestyle decisions we make on a day-to-day basis. We are without doubt using resources faster than they are being regenerated.
Tip-face charges that make people think twice before taking a trailer-load of ‘stuff’ to the tip have significantly reduced the amount of household rubbish that goes into landfill. A lot of that ‘stuff’ now gets recycled and some gets collected on Second-Hand Sundays. But the amount of rubbish that goes into landfill from household kerbside bin collections has continued to creep up, and the increase is due to more than just the growth in the population. The per person and per household rates have both increased in the ACT.
For some years, ACT No Waste has been keeping track of waste treatment technologies, in the belief that treatment of mixed (commingled) waste would provide an answer to our waste problems, after recyclable or reusable items had been separated for reprocessing. However, none of the technologies that have been developed so far has met relevant criteria for cost, efficiency and effectiveness.
Ideas for significantly reducing waste to landfill (and at the same time, reducing greenhouse gases – even though methane is now mined from waste sites) have now consolidated into the idea that it is best to sort waste into categories before it actually gets picked up. This means that different categories of waste can be treated in different ways, without all the contamination that makes mixed waste treatment unacceptable. The yellow-lid recycling bins were the start of this ‘separate at source’ idea.
Recent audits of household waste in the ACT have shown that nearly half is made up of food and other compostable waste. That’s around 25,000 tonnes a year. It therefore makes sense to separate out all the compostables from the waste of those who don’t have garden compost bins and to convert that waste into a usable, saleable product. Treatment methods that would be put in place mean that this type of waste won’t sit rotting in Mugga Lane Landfill, necessitating methane extraction continuing into infinity.
About 25,000 tonnes of food waste are placed in household bins and goes to landfill in the Canberra each year.
To recover valuable food waste resources, the Conservation Council recommends that the next ACT Government:
• Introduces a third bin for all households to allow source separation and collection of food waste.
• Provides each Canberra household with a bin for compostable or ‘green’ waste.
• Establishes a weekly household collection system for compostable waste. (The total cost of a weekly collection program from households would be $5 million pa max. This cost could be offset by reducing the frequency at which the green household waste bin is collected).
• Tenders for establishment of local business to receive and process food waste to create a useful, saleable product.
Reinvigorating a No Waste Concept
Some 200,000 tonnes of waste are still entering landfill each year in the ACT, despite the recycling effort reaching 75% of the waste stream.
With an increase in the population of the ACT of almost 30,000 since the start of the No Waste by 2010 Strategy, successful actions to reduce the generation of waste remain a constant challenge.
Waste to landfill per person and per household must reduce if we are to contain the impacts of our lifestyle.
Canberrans have been great recyclers, but we now need to do better. Audits of household waste bins have shown that up to one-fifth could be put into the recycling bin or green waste recycling.
Householders in multi-unit developments have a considerably worse recycling record than those in single dwellings. This is probably because systems for recycling from multi-unit dwellings are not particularly easy or practical to use. A focussed recycling program specifically for multi-unit householders is needed.
Government contracts for additional recycling at the tip face boost the community's performance and result in greater recovery of reusable material currently going to landfill. Public money may be better spent if the community took more responsibility for conscientious waste management.
Public encouragement to recycle would be boosted through provision of recycling facilities in public places. Children are taught the benefits of thoughtful use of waste through the AuSSI (Sustainable Schools) program, which is producing great results, but when they go to the shops with Mum and Dad, there is often nowhere to recycle their used containers.
A community that is fired up about No Waste should also have spin-off effects for improving recycling by business proprietors and for establishment of new recycling-related businesses.
Reinvigoration of the No Waste concept in the community could see a 10% improvement in householders’ recycling by 2012; doubling of adoption of effective recycling by organisers of public events; and halving of the amount of waste from public places.
To reinvigorate the No Waste concept, the Conservation Council recommends that the new ACT Government:
• Conducts a community education program on waste minimisation including avoidance and recycling.
• Introduces a recycling program focused on residents of multi-unit dwellings.
• Partners with community organisations and schools to promote waste minimisation, and avoidance and recycling.
• Introduces easy to use recycling bins alongside rubbish bins in all public places.
Water Conservation Policies
Recommendations:
• Establish an ongoing program to work with rural landholders in the drinking water catchments, in particular Googong and Gudgenby-Naas, to improve water quality from the forested and agricultural lands in the catchment, within the first 12 months of government.
• Establish a fund of $4 million, to be spent over two years, to improve water efficiency in all public housing properties.
• Provide a Third Pipe in the East Molonglo urban development for supply and use of recycled water to all properties, together with best practice water-sensitive urban design.
Improving Water Quality in the ACT’s Drinking Water Catchments
The ACT has a responsibility to supply high quality potable water to the community, and to minimise the contamination of rivers flowing through the ACT. The 2003 bushfires negatively affected all water supply catchments.
The main water supply for the ACT is the Cotter catchment, which lies wholly within the ACT. The damaged area above the lower Cotter dam has received much work from Greening Australia in revegetation following the 2003 bushfires, but much more work is needed through ACT Government agencies to reduce erosion, revegetate slopes and improve the riparian zone.
The alternative water supply, Googong Reservoir on the Queanbeyan River, is Canberra’s largest storage dam (at 121 Gigalitres). The Googong catchment has forestry, agricultural and related rural activities occurring within it that negatively impact water quality. The ACT has long been faced with the vexed question of how to improve water quality outcomes in the Googong catchment when most of the lands are in NSW.
The Gudgenby-Naas catchment flows into the Murrumbidgee River and will soon form part of the ACT’s drinking water supply through a project to pump and transfer water from the Murrumbidgee to Googong Reservoir. Although roughly 87% of this catchment lies within a conservation area (Namadgi National Park) vegetation and streambanks were damaged by the 2003 bushfire, and agricultural and related rural activities occur that also impact negatively on water quality.
Catchment management groups across the ACT and in the Upper Murrumbidgee catchment in NSW upstream of the ACT are vital to the ACT’s stream water quality, providing coordinated on-ground programs to reduce creek contamination and improve riparian habitat. Government backing within the ACT and facilitation of NSW groups in catchment management can strengthen the improvement of water quality.
Although the ACT does not have direct planning control over Googong’s catchment, it can improve water quality outcomes by working cooperatively with the NSW Government and with rural landholders’ management groups, to improve the quality and quantity of water available for storage.
Melbourne Water has demonstrated the benefit of working with rural landholders with its Tarago Project. This aims to ensure long-term sustainability of the Tarago catchment and its waterways, increase the security of local and regional water supplies, and provide benefits to the local community. It does this through its Tarago Catchment Sustainable Production Program which helps farmers develop ‘whole of farm’ management plans, control weeds, build fences to restrict livestock access to waterways, replant rivers and stream banks, and monitor water quality improvements.
A similar program implemented by the ACT Government to assist rural landholders in our region to improve water quality outcomes from their land will improve the quality of a valuable and scarce resource.
To improve water quality to the ACT’s water supply catchments, the Conservation Council recommends that the new ACT Government
• Establishes a senior officer water quality management position, full-time for 12 months plus costs and publicity, at a cost of $150,000.
• Researches working models, particularly the Tarago Project, in developing a best-practice program to work with rural landholders.
• Develops and implements the program within 12 months of government.
• Provides funds for ongoing work with rural landholders to achieve the best quality water outcomes in the ACT’s water catchments.
Water Efficiency in Public Housing
Investing in water efficiency postpones the need to spend substantial sums of money on a new dam or other expensive supply infrastructure. Public housing in the ACT is a significant user of potable water. Improving water efficiency in public housing should be a priority of the next Government.
Enabling public housing tenants to reduce their consumption of water will improve affordability; this is of particular importance in an era of price increases. The ACT Government as the owner and landlord of public housing has sole responsibility for maintenance and improvement of these dwellings. Improvements, therefore, should be wholly funded by government, and not just encouraged through subsidies.
The funded program would provide resources for a qualified plumber to visit each public housing property and undertake maintenance and repairs such as fixing or replacing leaking hot water systems and pipes, installing dual flush toilet systems, fitting low-flow taps, shower heads and other water saving devices.
The cost of a plumber and water saving devices for 11,500 properties will be at least $300 per property. The program should be fully funded to be delivered over two years.
To achieve increased water efficiency in public housing, the Conservation Council recommends that the next ACT Government:
• Establishes a $4 million fund to improve water efficiency in each public housing property - to be spent within two years.
• Provides funding for a full time position plus resources, to be housed in an appropriate community organization, to manage the water efficiency program for two years.
• Evaluates the project and reports on efficiency gains at the end of the two year period for inclusion in the next State of the Environment Report.
Third Pipe for East Molonglo
The urban development of East Molonglo provides an opportunity for best practice in water use and conservation. A key means of achieving sustainable water use and ‘drought proofing’ our city is to move away from the unrestricted use of potable water. Reuse of grey water for suitable non-potable uses will better utilise available water resources.
The new urban development in East Molonglo provides the opportunity to install a ‘third pipe’ system, providing treated recycled water to recreational areas and all households for non-potable use. Providing this infrastructure in a new greenfields development so close to the Lower Molonglo Water Treatment Plant will be significantly cheaper than retrofitting to existing suburbs, and can be used as the benchmark for all urban developments.
To make best use of treated recycled water the Conservation Council recommends that the new ACT Government:
• Provides funding for a third pipe to be installed at the same time as other necessary water infrastructure to the East Molonglo urban development.
• Links the third pipe infrastructure to the Molonglo Water Quality Treatment works as the source of treated non-potable water.
• Funds an education campaign on the use of treated grey water in the home for East Molonglo residents.
• Uses East Molonglo as a benchmark for best practice in the roll out of grey-water use in all new developments.
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Conservation Council Policies
